


Finding beauty in dissonance

by chaoticcollectorchaos_me



Series: Parabola [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpha Steve Rogers, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers Friendship, Catholic Steve Rogers, Depictions of postpartum period, Insecure Tony, M/M, Male Lactation, Mpreg, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark Friendship, Not entirely accurate depiction of a religious ritual, Omega Tony Stark, Post Mpreg, discussions of religion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-29 10:35:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16742383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoticcollectorchaos_me/pseuds/chaoticcollectorchaos_me
Summary: As Tony discovered first hand, being pregnant and giving birth was nothing compared to everything that came afterwards.





	Finding beauty in dissonance

**Author's Note:**

> IDEK about this one, you guys...
> 
> It's only supposed to be a fluff piece, but then it morphed into a long ass story that consumed my Thanksgiving break lmao. I seem to have trouble with being brief when writing
> 
> Some scenes are inspired by Ali Wong's standup routine "Hard Knock Wife" and "The Godfather". 
> 
> Title taken from "Schism" by Tool.

Ulysses was the perfect baby. Aside from his birth, he hardly cried and seemed to delight in being held by people. Once Tony had been transferred to the recovery room for the remainder of his stay at the hospital, the Avengers jubilantly entered the room carrying a cornucopia of gifts. Clint was carrying a pink balloon sporting an “It’s a Girl!” logo with the word Girl crossed out haphazardly with a black sharpie and “Boy” written on top of it instead. Bruce was carrying a huge white stuffed bunny in his hand, along with Natasha who was carrying a bouquet of flowers. Thor had somehow smuggled his Asgardian mead to the hospital and Sam looked worn down but excited at the same time. Tony looked at his family and thought how one year ago he would be celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day the way he usually did, by ignoring it. By this year, and many more years to come, Saint Patrick’s Day would be marked by the birth of his son and symbolizing the day his life, and his family, was finally complete. Looking over at his mate by his side with a soft smile that hasn’t left his face ever since Ulysses was born, and the ragtag bunch of misfit superheroes he called family, Tony Stark has never been happier.

 

Ulysses slept soundly in his bassinet, swaddled in soft warm cloths. He was so precious, Tony could hardly be blamed for barely glancing up at the newcomers in the room other than to notice Clint’s disaster balloon and the bouquet of daffodils and carnations in Natasha’s hand. Steve seemed to have the same problem too, Tony thought he hasn’t kept his eyes off his son the entire time they’ve been here.

 

“Hey, guys,” Steve warmly greeted them, “thanks for coming.”

 

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, Steve.” Bruce said, “congratulations, guys.” he placed the bunny on the nightstand by Tony’s bed.

 

“Is that him?” Clint eagerly asked, peering into the bassinet and taking in Ulysses’ sleeping form.

 

“Yes.” Steve reached into the bassinet, gently holding Ulysses in his arms. Tony’s breath hitched at the sight of his mate holding their son. There was something beautiful and gentle in the way Steve hold him. “Everyone, I’d like to introduce your new nephew Ulysses James Stark Rogers. Ulysses, these are your aunt and uncles.” then he gently positioned his arms so the gathered Avengers would be able to see Ulysses’ face for the first time. Tony heard a collective gasp from the group and smiled to himself. Yeah, Ulysses has captured their hearts and souls for the rest of his lives. Tony smirked sleepily, his work as a parent here was done.

 

“He’s beautiful, Steve.” Bruce said reverently. He reached out to touch Ulysses’ cheek, gratified when Ulysses reacted to the light touch.

 

“He’s half me. So that’s expected, Brucie.” Tony quipped. His eyes were starting to get heavy. Giving birth was more tiring than being in battle, who knew.

 

“How are you feeling?” he felt Natasha sat down on the side of his bed. Her hands started to card through his messy oily hair, gently lulling him to sleep.

“Tired. Who knew giving birth was so exhausting. And painful.” Tony lazily answered.

 

“Certainly not me, _Dorogaya moya_.”

 

Tony’s eyes snapped open and he looked at her bright green eyes. There was happiness there, but also an understated sadness that came from knowing she would never experience what Tony had. During the course of Tony’s pregnancy, he and Natasha had unexpectedly bonded. While he and Clint bonded over weird cravings and food combinations, he and Natasha shared an affinity for designer clothing. Natasha needed clothes, more than any of them because even though she was an Alpha she was also a woman. And as a woman she was subjected to the double standard that paparazzi and the media placed on a woman no matter what her standing. Every single thing she wore or didn’t wear became a subject of scrutiny.

 

So Natasha need clothes, and she liked to drag him all over Fifth Avenue to shop for clothes. Ostensibly because Tony has good taste (which, of course he did). During one of their many outings to look for maternity suits for Tony (being pregnant with badly swollen ankle was apparently not an excuse to get out of galas, according to Pepper) Natasha shared some of her backstory and the fact that part of her “training” had included a radical hysterectomy which obliterated any chances of her ever conceiving a child. She confided in Tony that not being able to have kids wasn’t something that bothered before. Her life was unsuitable for that, but now they have some semblance of normalcy and with Tony pregnant, those dark thoughts, as she liked to call them, started to loom.

 

Natasha couldn’t have children of her own. She was happy for Tony and Steve, but a small-very very small-part of her was jealous of them to be able to have what she could never have. So to see her here, in the midst of their celebration, was humbling for Tony.

 

“He’s yours too, you know. He’s not just mine and Steve’s. He’s yours, and Bruce’s, and Thor’s, and Rhodey’s, and Sam’s. God forbid, he’s Clint’s too.” Tony told her, “It takes a village. And you better be damn sure that all of y’all are gonna be part of that village.”

 

Natasha’s small, almost imperceptible, smile told him that he said what she needed to hear. “Go on and get in the ring, Aunt Tasha. Someone needs to be the voice of reason when that kid grows up.” Tony nudged her to where the others were standing around Steve who still had Ulysses in his arms. She left her perch on Tony’s bedside and joined the others as they cooed over Ulysses. Tony leaned back on his hospital bed, tired out but relieved and happy to know that Ulysses would have so many people loving him and watching over him, if he and Steve were to perish. His son would never be alone. He would never feel coldness and emptiness that Tony often feel growing up by himself.

 

Steve gently transferred Ulysses from the cradle of his arms to Natasha’s waiting hands. The gentleness with which he held their son was warming the cockles of Tony’s heart. He knew that Steve, despite his strength and his great ability to cause destruction, was a gentle person. The way those hands touch and caress Tony’s body when they made love or whenever they casually touch assured him of that. But the way he held Ulysses was markedly different from the way he ever held Tony, like he was holding the most precious gift on Earth.

 

After Ulysses was finally held in Natasha’s arms, busily being cooed at by his uncles and aunt, Steve sat back down at Tony’s bedside, pulling Tony closer to him so he could lean his body on Steve’s. Tony slotted his face in the crook of Steve’s neck, closing his eyes and breathing in the scent of contentment and happiness from his mate.

 

“Our family.” Steve whispered. Tony hummed in answer, watching their family cooed and made funny noises at their sleeping baby. Bruce seemed uncertain with what to do, his hands were folded behind his back, though his expression was affectionate and fond. Sam was cooing at his son and Thor had the brightest smile on his face. His blue eyes seemed to be shining with happiness and awe, a big thumb softly caressing Ulysses’ cheek as he muttered something that sounded foreign to Tony and Steve’s ears. Something Asgardian perhaps? They’d have to ask him about that later. Clint was crowding Natasha, asking her for a chance to hold Ulysses himself. By the look Natasha shot him, it’d be awhile before the redhead would be willing to part with her nephew.

 

Steve pressed a kiss to Tony’s forehead. Today had been the most perfect, life changing, earth shattering, days of his life. Steve wondered what his Ma would have said if she were here with them. She would be crying buckets and buckets of joyful tears at the birth of her first grandson. She’d have laughed at him for naming his son after his favorite book, but then she would also say that it was a mighty fine name that honored their heritage. She would be happy to see him now: happily mated to the most beautiful, kindest, most thoughtful and compassionate omega and to have a pack that supported and loved him despite his shortcomings.

 

“So, who’s the godfather for the little squirt?” Sam’s voice broke through his musings. Tony blearily looked up from his position nestled under Steve’s face.  

 

“Well,” Tony drawled, grinning impishly, “isn’t that the sixty four million dollar question?”

* * *

 

Three days later, they finally let Tony and Ulysses leave the hospital. Thank Hawking, because it was getting boring just sitting around in bed, resorting to tapping away on the tablet or watch terrible daytime TV, in between changing Ulysses’ diapers and breastfeeding him. On the one hand, Steve seemed to be the one enjoying his stay at the hospital. The man was starting to get into General Hospital and the Wendy Williams show, for god’s sakes.

 

Tony had to nip that shit in the bud. He wasn’t about to invite General Hospital and Wendy Williams in to his Tower, okay? It would be detrimental to Ulysses’ early growth and development. So as soon as Dr. Rosenberg cleared him and Ulysses, he (made Steve) packed up his shit and booked it out of the hospital. Now he was home, back in his tower with his baby, his mate and his family around him. Pepper finally came and visit after weeks of overseas travel to SI subsidiaries. As predicted, she fell immediately in love with her new nephew. Ulysses was awake when she visited and she cooed endlessly at his gummy smile, his blue eyes, even the spit bubble he blew in her face.

 

Next was Rhodey’s turn. He returned to the tower immediately after he was stateside after a brief mission in Syria. Tony had had JARVIS sent Rhodey a picture of Ulysses’ sleeping face after he was born to him, receiving only a bunch of heart emojis as a reply. Tony took that as a sign that Rhodey was thrilled by the birth of Ulysses.

 

“He looks like both of you,” Rhodey said as he peered into the bassinet, where Ulysses was laying down, sleeping the day away after feeding. “He has your hair, Tones. That messy, curly, rambunctious hair. But I bet when he grow up, he’s gonna have Steve’s aww shucks smile down pat.”

 

“Kid won the genetic lottery,” Tony said from his position in the rocking chair at the far end of the nursery, “He’s half me and half Steve. He’s always going to be pretty. Ooh, you know what. We should enter him in one of those cute baby contests. He’d clean up with all the awards, won’t you Uly?”

 

“I don’t think Steve would go for that.” Rhodey shook his head amusedly.

 

“Steve wouldn’t go for what?” Steve walked in to the nursery, carrying tray filled with bowl of Natasha’s lactation soup, spinach and kale salad and some braised dim sum chicken feet. If he weren’t so hungry all the time and actually needed the food to breastfeed Ulysses, Tony would feel like such a fatass for eating so much so often.

 

“Your mate wants to put your newborn baby in a cutest babies contest.” Rhodey answered for him.

 

“Hmm,” Steve hummed, placing the mouthwatering food in front of Tony, prompting Tony to chastely kiss his mate on the cheek, “That’s a bit unfair for the other babies, don’t you think? He’d clean house with all the awards.”

 

Tony grinned impishly and shot Rhodey a look that said “Told you so!” Rhodey sighed and shook his head. “You two dorks belong together.”

 

“Not gonna disagree with that.” Tony said and picked up the chicken feet and started devouring it. After a moment, he felt Steve nudged his feet and tilted his head towards where Rhodey was slowly oscillating Ulysses’ bassinet back and forth to lull the baby to sleep. The couple exchanged few meaningful glances in silent communication before Tony cleared his throat to get Rhodey’s attention.

 

“What’s up?”

 

“Platypus, Steve and I-- we have something to discuss with you. About Ulysses.” Tony trailed off, “we were wondering if you would be willing to be Uly’s godfather.”

 

There was a quiet moment in the nursery as the three men sat in silence, regarding each other. Rhodey was still standing by the bassinet, which was now motionless, staring at them and blinking creepily.

 

“I think I broke Rhodey, Steve. He always have some smartass comeback no matter what I said.”

 

Steve cleared his throat, “Jim? Did you hear what Tony said?”

 

Steve’s voice seemed to jolt him out of his reverie. Rhodey started sputtering, “Wha-- Godfather? Me? Are you sure?”

 

“Jim, you’re one of the best men we know.” Steve gestured to himself and Tony, “We think highly of you and we named Ulysses after you and my own best friend. We can’t think of anyone more appropriate to be his godfather than you. And Bucky, if he ever comes back.” Steve’s voice was a little subdued as he mentioned that last part. Tony placed his hand on his mate’s thighs in a comforting gesture.

 

“We’d be honored if you were to become one of Ulysses’ godfathers, Colonel.” Steve continued, purposefully using Rhodey’s rank because Tony had told him before how much of a Captain America fanboy Rhodey was. Although no one could top Tony as the ultimate, number one, super duper Captain America fan. He bore Captain America’s son, okay. No other fan could even come close to that.

 

As expected Rhodey folded like a wet paper bag. “The honor is mine, Captain. Tony.” he nodded at Tony, grinning like a loon.

 

“Great!” Tony clapped, then noticing his mistake when he heard a whine from the bassinet. “Oops. Great,” he lowered his voice, “now you’re in charge of making sure he goes to MIT if anything happens to me and Steve.”

 

Rhodey laughed again, “I can do that.” he looked down again at the baby soundly sleeping in the baby crib, his godson now. “I thought you were going to ask one of the others to be his godfather. I mean, you already named him after me.”

 

“ _Partially_ named him after you,” Tony corrected, chicken feet demolished and now moving on to the salad, “if we named one of them godparent, they might let him go off and join a circus or worse yet, go to Harvard. Yuck.” Tony made a face.

“They’ll have their chances later on.” Steve said, smiling down at Tony.

 

“Whoa, hang on there, cowboy. Let’s see how we do with this one first before we get to a second one. If we don’t mess him up too badly, then we can talk about a second kid.” Tony looked up from his salad in alarm at Steve, but his mate just winked.

 

“I’ll even let you name them _Citizen Kane_ , like I promised.”

 

“Kid, your parents are crazy.” Rhodey whispered down at his godson, “but don’t worry you have Uncle Rhodey to keep you sane.”

 

* * *

 

Tony was a genius. He’s a certifiable genius, graduated MIT at age 17, took over Stark Industries at age 21, revolutionized the weapons industry, perfected the arc reactor technology bla di bla. At age 12, he corrected a published paper that led to the retraction of said paper. Come on, they were using a linear regression when they clearly should have been using a Pearson’s correlation. Never ever use a linear regression. It’s appalling that not everybody knew that.

 

Point is, he was smart. He could look at anything in the world, dissect and analyze it to bits and if it’s broken, he could fix it. If it’s not broken, then hell, he would improve the shit out of it until it couldn’t be broken anymore. But for all his genius and his intelligence, he still didn’t understand why the United States didn’t have a federal policy for paid parental leave. Tony was proud of the fact that Stark Industries was one of the few companies that offered paid maternity _and_ paternity leave to its employees. Other than the excellent health insurance, it was one of the many things that led to low employee turnovers at the company. SI offered twelve weeks of paid maternity/paternity leave. But now, Tony was starting to think that maybe they should be like Germany and offered up to three years of parental leave.

 

Because as Tony discovered first hand, being pregnant and giving birth was nothing compared to everything that came afterwards.

 

You know what comes after the baby was born? Everything keeping the baby alive when it was in _utero_. And since human beings were high maintenance product of evolution, they needed a lot of things to keep them alive.

 

Which brought him to the fact that for the past two months, he has been wearing an adult diaper, which made him not that different from Ulysses. Tony didn’t know that his body was capable of shedding so much uterine lining or that one tiny person --that he loved with all his body and soul-- needed so many biological apparatus to stay alive. He and Steve hadn’t been able to have penetrative sex in two months and if he wasn’t feeling like a human disaster right now, he would be more upset. As it was, he was glad Steve couldn’t see him naked because his previously smoking hot bod was nothing more than a lump of flesh and atrophying muscles with milk squirting out of every orifice. Right now, he wasn’t feeling particularly sexy or desirable.

 

Hell, these days he walked around the penthouse in sweatpants, loose shirt that sometimes have wet spots on the front and hair with more oil than DUM-E’s joints, because he literally had no energy left to expend for a simple shower. The point was, at the moment he wasn’t gonna be winning People’s Sexiest Omega Alive award, and the thought of potentially exposing his decimated body to the peak of physical perfection that was his mate was a bit intimidating.

 

He was lying down on the couch, face up, with a heating pad situated at his lower back groaning in pain from the cramps. The other Avengers were milling around the living room. Apparently it was a slow day, and no one seemed to have an appointment that would take them outside of the Tower. Bruce was somewhere, probably puttering around in his lab. Natasha was reading Page Six on the couch with Tony’s feet propped up on her lap. Clint was sitting on the floor, watching _Say Yes to the Dress_ because Hawkeye, expert marksman, loves watching brides-to-be search for a dress for their mating ceremony. Thor seemed to be invested in it too, exclaiming in outrage whenever he saw a dress he thought was overpriced or looked unflattering on the bride.

 

Steve came in the room with Ulysses in his arms. He had took the baby back to the nursery to change his diaper. Ulysses look bright eyed and happy. His blue, blue eyes so much like Steve’s and the curious expression on his face as he scanned the room looking at his aunt and uncles. He lit up when he spotted Tony on the couch, letting out a cooing sound and reaching out his pudgy hands towards his father.

 

“I know, sweetheart, I know you’re hungry.” Steve softly murmured to his baby, walking towards the couch. Seeing his mate and child approaching him, Tony sat up and flashed them a tired smile.

 

“Hungry?” he asked. Steve gingerly transferred him to Tony. Tony positioned him in his arms, then pulled away the loose button up shirt he was wearing for Ulysses to start feeding. As soon as he got a nipple exposed, Ulysses seemed to instinctively knew what to do and just latched on start sucking. Tony winced a little bit as the force of the suction pinched his nipple. The first suction was always the worst. At least they have slowly graduated from the fiasco of the first day when both Tony and Ulysses couldn’t stop crying because one of them couldn’t latch on and the other didn’t know how to make the baby latch on. It was a nerve wracking experience for everyone involved.

 

Now, though, everything was more streamlined. Steve was waiting with a towel draped over his shoulder, like a good Alpha should, ready to pat Ulysses’ back after he fed. Tony breastfeeding in the living room was a common occurrence that nobody took issue with. They understood that breastfeeding was a natural act, and that there was nothing wrong or weird with Tony doing it in the common room.

 

Ulysses finally let go of Tony after a couple of minutes, his eyes started to get the hooded look that signified he was sleepy. Tony smiled down at his son, he looked so cute. So far, Ulysses seemed to be taking after Steve more than him, with the blue eyes, his high brow and the sharp nose. Tony’s main contribution at this point seemed to be his dark, fluffy hair, a contrast to Steve’s blonde hair. “Looks like he’s getting sleepy.” Tony held him up for Steve to pat his back. He readily positioned Ulysses over the towel and gently patted his back until they heard a gentle burping sound.

 

“Excellent division of labor. I feed him, you get burped and vomited on.”

 

Steve just fixed him with an indulgent look. Steve didn’t mind one bit whenever he had to change diapers and Ulysses peed on him, much to Tony’s great amusement. Or that one time Steve wanted to bond with Ulysses and initiated skin-to-skin contact with the baby and placed him on his bare chest and Ulysses shat on him. Clint and Sam didn’t let him live that down for a week. Actually they still weren't letting down on that.

 

“Come here, babes.” Tony beckoned him, needing his boys close to him and patting the empty spot on the couch next to him. Steve obliged, arms slowly moving back and forth in a swinging motion to lull Ulysses to sleep and dropping down to the couch next to Tony. Ulysses’ eyes started to droop, satisfied with his latest meal. Tony immediately snuggled up to Steve and Ulysses, throwing his arm around Steve’s waist and nuzzling in closer to his mate.

 

Steve pressed a soft kiss to his forehead, smiling down at Tony. He knew Tony hasn’t been feeling his best lately, that he was self-conscious of his body postpartum but to Steve, he had never looked more beautiful than he was right now. It was proof that Tony had just given them the greatest gift of all, their son. And damn, if Steve couldn’t make him see that he desired Tony just as much now as he did before Ulysses came. They might not be able to do much now, on account of the afterbirth discharge, but once that was done all bets were off.

 

A sound of a camera clicking and snapping a picture drew their attention from Ulysses and to Clint who was grinning madly from his position on the floor, the polaroid camera that he got from Natasha for Christmas in his hand. The camera spat out the paper and Clint snapped it and started to waved it to develop the film. After he was satisfied with the result, he gave the polaroid picture to Tony, winking, “You’re welcome.”

 

Steve accepted the polaroid and tilted it to show the picture to Tony, still nestled in the crook of his neck. Clint managed to take a picture that somehow incorporated the natural light from the sun spilling inside the penthouse living room from the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, making the picture looked like it was professionally taken, and not a candid one. In the picture, Tony was resting his head on Steve’s shoulder, his eyes steadfastly on Ulysses, who was sleeping soundly in Steve’s arms. Steve himself was smiling down fondly at Tony, happiness evident in his face. This was the first time he ever saw the three of them together, and Steve felt a flood of love and affection so great for his family. “Thanks, Clint. It’s a really good picture.”

 

“Not bad, birdbrain. You could give Ansel Adams a run for his money.” Tony quipped sleepily.

 

Clint looked smug as he settled back down to watch his show, the lady on TV finally said yes to a Vera Wang dress. Steve placed the picture on the coffee table next to the sofa and moved closer to Tony.

 

The next day, the photo Clint took was framed and displayed prominently in Steve’s studio and a holograph of the photo, scanned by JARVIS, would be floating in Tony’s workshop permanently.

* * *

 

Ten months after Ulysses’ birth, Tony’s body was starting to go back to the way it was before the pregnancy. Mostly anyway. His stomach was starting to go back to the flat stomach he had before the pregnancy although all of the muscle definition in his core that he had before from piloting the suit was abysmally decimated by the amount of fat that replaced said muscles. His hips became more prominent now with the pelvic muscles stretched out after the birth and more importantly his previously amazing ass that had websites dedicated to it became even rounder and more plump. Clint called it a “duckbutt ass” and said that there would be even more websites dedicated to his as now. All in all, he was curvier than he was before Ulysses and he wasn’t unsure if he liked it or not.

 

Tony would be troubled by the fact that his ass has gotten bigger, if not for the fact that Steve liked them so much. Whenever they were alone, he would always be touching or fondling it. Apparently Steve was an ass man. Oh well, as long as Steve liked it. No one’s opinions on his body should matter more than his Alpha’s. Steve didn’t seem to mind that Tony’s body was not the same as it once was, whispering to his ears when they were in bed that it’s proof that Tony has given him the greatest treasure of his life, and that Tony would always be beautiful to him no matter what. And that was enough to make Tony shed a tear, and not give a damn about what anyone else in the world thought.

 

Really, unrealistic beauty standards would be the downfall of modern civilization.

 

That morning they were all gathered in the kitchen for breakfast, like they usually did. Steve and Bruce were cooking what looked like a whole hog’s worth of bacon and eggs for the family, while Natasha and Sam were sitting at the counter, her drinking imported Russian tea while Sam was reading the news on his own tablet. Clint and Thor weren’t awake yet, but the smell of bacon would bring them up, sooner or later.

 

Tony had just fed Ulysses from a bottle, because after eight months of breastfeeding he couldn’t take anymore yanking and pulling of his poor abused nipples even from his own son. Ulysses was in his arms, drooling away on his shoulder as he played around with the schematic of his latest project on a StarkPad for a device that would help veterans or traumatic brain injury patients recover from PTSD. He got the idea after a movie night where Thor picked a Disney movie called _Meet the Robinsons._ The protagonist had the brilliant idea of scanning his own brain to uncover forgotten memories, and Tony thought maybe, just maybe, he could make the same device but instead of just displaying the memory, you could interact with it and manipulate the memories to go the way you wished it would have gone, for closure. That would be a big stepping stone in helping trauma patients, and potentially, a certain brainwashed sniper.

 

He hadn’t told Steve anything about this project, because Tony wasn’t about to give him any false hope. There was still no guarantee that Barnes would ever come back, with him still in the wind, or that the device (he needed to come with a name for it instead of just calling it the device all the damn time) would be able to do what it was supposed to do. Okay, the second point was moot because of course it would do what it was supposed to do, Tony made it after all. He had finished all the final design and JARVIS just needed to fabricate the prototype. Tony decided he’d build it regardless of Barnes’ presence. It would be a good new gizmo to show off at the launching of the September Foundation at MIT, in any case.

 

By the time Tony sent the fabrication command to JARVIS and Steve and Bruce cooked all of the bacon, Clint and Thor managed to drag themselves out of their quarters and joined the rest of them for breakfast.

 

“Coffee…” Clint was bleary eyed and mumbling. Natasha wordlessly held up a steaming mug of coffee for him to grab and drink, or more appropriately, chugged.

 

Once finished, Clint turned his attention to Ulysses who was blowing spit bubbles over Tony’s shoulder. “Hi, baby boy!” he greeted, “Look at you! Look at those bug eyes!” Clint cooed at him, “Did you have breakfast yet?”

 

Ulysses giggled in response at his uncle, reaching out with his pudgy fingers for Clint. “Yes, he did and apparently now is drooling his way down my back.” Tony answered for him.

 

“Come here, you wanna drool on Uncle Clint? Let’s drool on Uncle Clint.” He reached for Ulysses and Tony readily relinquished his hold on the baby, glad to have a little reprieve.

 

Steve came to sit down next to Tony, a napkin in his hand to wipe Ulysses’ face, who was sitting up on Clint’s lap bouncing up and down, his happy squeals amusing everyone.

 

“ _A stór_.” Steve murmured as he wiped down Ulysses’ face. _My treasure_.

Steve placed a plate filled with eggs, bacon and pancakes in front of Tony, “Eat, Tony. Your last meal was at lunch yesterday.”

 

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Tony sighed and put away the tablet to start eating. Delicious, as usual.

 

No sooner had they sat down to enjoy breakfast than JARVIS rang the alarm signifying the presence of an intruder. As a unit, they immediately stood up in numerous fighting stances.

 

Clint immediately shielding Ulysses with his body and preparing to leave the room; Mjolnir flew in from Thor’s room, smashing through layers of concrete and steel (which means Tony now had to repair the floors. Again.) to land seamlessly in Thor’s hand and startling Ulysses who started crying in Clint’s arms; Natasha pulled out a gun from God knew where and just to make sure she’s completely armed, unsheathed one of the kitchen knives from its place on the counter; Sam and Bruce stiffened up in defense, with Bruce looking unsure and nervous in his place by the stove; Tony was busy trying to calm down and soothe his son with Steve covering his mate and son with his body in a protective stance.   

 

“JARVIS, status report. What’s going on?” Steve commanded the AI.

 

“A man matching Sergeant Barnes’ biometrics have been spotted in the lobby of the Tower.” JARVIS announced much to everyone’s surprise.

 

“What…” Steve dumbfoundedly asked, unsure if he was hearing what he thought JARVIS was saying.

 

“JARVIS, show us the footage.” Tony said. JARVIS dutifully projected a hologram of the Tower lobby’s footage, showing an unshaven Bucky Barnes standing in the lobby, wearing an old jacket, a baseball cap and combat boots.

 

The footage was proof positive that Bucky was here in the Tower, just fifty stories below. Why has he come back? Steve wondered. What did he want after a year of no contact, no visuals? Does this mean he remembered everything now?

 

Steve thought he would be ready for when Bucky ever came back to him. But right now, he had no idea what to do or say.

 

“Steve,” he felt Tony nudged him, “you should go down there. See what he wants.”

 

Steve looked back towards Tony, carrying Ulysses whose cries have petered out and was now sniffling quietly into Tony’s neck. Tony looked unsure and hesitant, it wasn’t everyday that the man who was responsible for your parents’ deaths dropped by for a visit after all. Steve knew what that felt like for he felt the same.

 

Should he meet Bucky and let him into his house? And would this be at the expense of his mate and child? Over the short one year after the fall of SHIELD and the establishment of the independent Avengers, Steve’s priorities have shifted. No longer did he held on blindly to the past, but he had embraced the future. Bucky, as his sole connection to the past, was no longer the object of his myopic focus in an attempt to stay connected with the past. Not to say that Bucky no longer mattered for him, but these days Bucky’s absence was more tolerable than before. Now, Tony and Ulysses were his number one priority, followed by the Avengers as a close second.

 

But Bucky being here now presented a new opportunity, a new chance to start over for them, and for the family he dreamt of in the aftermath of SHIELD’s downfall. Bracing himself for what came next, Steve nodded. “I’ll be back.” he told Tony, caressing the omega’s cheek and Ulysses’ back to soothe him.

 

Steve walked to the elevator that was waiting to bring him down to the lobby, with one last glance at his family. They’ll be okay. No matter what, they got each other’s back.

 

As soon as Steve was out of earshot, Tony said, “JARVIS, prep the Hulk cage.” If Barnes would be here for an extended amount of time, some contingency plans need to be made.

* * *

 

They decided to call Maria Hill and Nick Fury from the depth from whence they came to deal with Barnes. From their initial interview, it looked like he was no longer under HYDRA’s influence and seemed to have broke through the brainwashing. They were, however, still cautious about the possibility of him being triggered and snapping back to the Winter Soldier persona.

 

Barnes, Steve, Maria and Fury have been sequestered down in the Hulk proof cage that Tony had built in the Tower a long time ago in preparation for cohabitating with Bruce. They haven’t had a need to use it ever since they started living together due to Bruce’s excellent control of the Big Guy. Well, Tony thought ruefully as he watched the CCTV footage JARVIS pulled up for him, at least they’re getting some use for it now.

 

Hill and Fury were interrogating Barnes, asking him about different intel regarding HYDRA and their involvements in different terrorist organizations around the world. Steve sat there, stone faced, impressive arms folded across his chest as he stared down Maria and Nick. Or maybe he was staring down Barnes, Tony had no clue. They’ve been there for weeks, and at this point Tony was starting to get annoyed. Steve being down there meant he wasn’t sleeping in their bed, which meant Tony didn’t have his body pillow with him, which led to bad quality sleep which led to crankiness during the day. Plus, he had to deal with Ulysses being clingy and more prone to crying than usual  because the baby seemed to sense that something was going on in his house and that his family was on edge.

 

Steve didn’t shirk his fatherly duties, he would never do that. He still made Ulysses’ bottle, he still sang him to sleep most nights, but during the day he would mostly be downstairs with Barnes, reminiscing about the good old days. Whenever it was just the two of them downstairs, talking and Steve started to say “Remember when…” Tony immediately cut off the live feed, afraid of what he might see or hear. For some reason, it felt wrong to spy on that. Spying on Fury and Hill extract Intel from Barnes, that was no big deal. But watching Steve and his BFF talked about how the past was better was a line he wasn’t willing to cross.

 

So now, Tony’s days were spent puttering around in the workshop with his baby (babies), not so discreetly spying on his mate. He converted a corner of his workshop for a play area where he placed Ulysses’ cot and a playpen. The small fridge that used to house various liquors and wines were now devoid of alcohol and filled with bottles upon bottles of breastmilk and water. Tony wondered what his old self would think looking at how domesticated he was these days. A billionaire trophy wife, a title he would wear proudly, thank you very much. Looking at Ulysses playing with building blocks with DUM-E’s assistance, he couldn’t help but not give a damn about what his old self or anyone would think if they saw him now. He’d go through all of it again, even Afghanistan, even knowing the truth of his parents’ demise, if at the end he could have Ulysses and Steve. That little boy personified the future generation, and he was the reason Tony got out of bed every morning, his reason to keep working and his reason to establish this new foundation.

 

Ulysses’ happy squeals and gurgles warmed his heart. He flashed a warm smile at the little boy slowly coming into his own, his features slowly resembling Steve in the post-serum days. He would be the cutest thing ever, Tony mused.

 

The sound of his workshop door opening drew his attention away from Ulysses. He turned to see Natasha walking in to the workshop, carrying a bowl of pasta from last night’s dinner. She walked in and placed the bowl on the empty spaces in between the draft papers and other gadgets strewn about his work desk, and with her eyes told Tony that that he was going to eat that bowl of pasta until there’s not a speck of sauce left. What’s with people trying to feed him these days? He needed to lose the baby weight.

 

Then she walked to the baby area to play with Ulysses, sitting on the floor with him and quietly stacking blocks with him, murmuring Russian endearments whenever Ulysses did something silly and cute. At first, seeing Nat interacted with Ulysses was bizzare since the spy wasn’t very fond of sharing her inner thoughts and emotions, instead relying on a facade of cold calculation and indifference. But now they knew better. Natasha “love is for children” Romanov adored her nephew and just like everyone else, she would be the first line of defense should anything threatened the little boy.

 

They were silent for awhile, Tony eating his lunch while simultaneously directing JARVIS to work on calibrating the device that he now has a name for. Binarily Augmented Retro-framing device or B.A.R.F.  The acronym probably needed more work, but he was inspired after Ulysses threw up on him one day, so it’s staying. Natasha toppled down another tower block much to Ulysses’ amusement.

 

“He’s not leaving you for Barnes, you know.”

 

That threw Tony so off guard, he started choking on his pasta. “Wha-- Nat, what are you talking about?”

 

“I know you’re thinking it, Tony. I can see it in your eyes.”

 

“No, you can’t…” his eyes and facial expression were probably shifty as fuck right now, conveying zero confidence.

 

Natasha sighed and lifted Ulysses out of his playpen to carry him, “Then why are you moping down here, instead of being down there with Steve?”

 

“He doesn’t need me, Nat. Believe me, I’m the last thing he wants over there in the Upside Down when all I’m gonna do is trigger Barnes and undo all the deprogramming he went through.”

 

“You know that’s not true. Steve needs you, he needs your presence. You’re just smarting right now because you think Barnes is more important to him than you are.”

 

Ouch. Aint’t that the truth.

 

“Stop hammering that nail, Nat. It’s in already.” Tony grumbled.

 

“You’re the father of his child, Tony. He had a chance to go after Barnes last year, but he stayed so he could be with you.”

 

Tony pondered for a moment. “Sometimes I wonder if he stayed because he felt guilty because his best friend turned out to be my parents’ murderer.”

 

“Should he have felt guilty?” Natasha asked.

 

“No!” Tony vehemently denied, “there’s nothing to be guilty about, like I told Steve before. Barnes was under HYDRA control. You can’t hold someone accountable for what they’d done under someone’s coercion. I forgave him for that a long time ago.”

 

“Then why the hesitance? Do you doubt Steve’s love and devotion for you and Ulysses?”

 

“No, of course not. Maybe, I’m just scared. Scared that now he had the one thing that connects him to the past back, he wouldn’t want his future anymore. I know, it’s illogical but fears and doubts aren’t known to be rational.”

 

Natasha placed her hand on his shoulder, rubbing it in a gesture of comfort. “Your fears are unfounded, Tony. The two of you need to spend some time together, and you will realize that not only does Steve not feel the way you described but that Barnes’ presence here does nothing to diminish his love for you and Ulysses. It increases that love.”

 

“What? What do you mean?”

 

“Talk to him, Tony.” she said reassuringly yet doing nothing to ease the turmoil in Tony’s mind.

* * *

 

That night, Tony did his usual chore of putting feeding Ulysses and putting him to bed. What was unusual was he lingered for long moments after the little boy was finally lulled to sleep by the slow oscillation of the rocking chair. There was no hurry to return back to the room, Steve wouldn’t be there anyway, still locked away with Barnes. God knew how many more nights he would have to spend alone now.

 

As he gazed down at the beloved face of his son, he felt an overwhelming sense of love and protectiveness. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for his son, his life would be the least of whatever he would give up for him.

 

 _And as the walls come down and_  
_As I look in your eyes_  
_My fear begins to fade_  
_Recalling all of the times_  
_I have died_  
_And will die_  
_It's all right_  
_I don't mind_  
_I don't mind_ _  
_ I don't mind

 

“This whole time I’ve known you and I never how beautiful your voice sounds when you sing,” Steve’s voice startled him out of his reverie. He spotted his Alpha standing at the doorjamb of the nursery, a smile on his face as he looked at them.

 

“Just one of my many hidden talents,” Tony shrugged, smiling deprecatingly. He stood up to place Ulysses back in the crib for the night. “Good night, baby boy. I love you.” he whispered to the sleeping infant.

Steve stepped in to stand beside him and reached down to the crib to caress his baby’s cheek. “Seems like he grew bigger than when I saw him this morning.”

 

“That’s what babies do. They grow and change. In fact, that’s what people do. They change when you weren’t paying attention to them.” What the fuck, Tony. That was not how you were supposed to initiate this discussion.

 

“Tony,” Steve had his introspective face on, “is something wrong?”

 

“Nothing’s wrong, Steve. How was Barnes?” Tony futilely tried to change the subject.

 

“Bucky’s fine. He finally agreed to leave the Hulk cage and stay in one of the guest floors. Tony, come on, something’s wrong, I know you.”

 

Tony sighed. He didn’t want to get into it in Ulysses’ nursery. That would scar the child for life, regardless of whether or not he would remember any of this once he grew up. “Not here.” he said, then walked out of the nursery to their room right across the hall.

 

“I’m sorry I haven’t been around much. Bucky being here...I know it’s not ideal, Tony. But I can’t turn him away when he needed help. Now that he’s better, I could help him find a place to stay somewhere near.”

 

Wait, what?

 

“Whoa, whoa. What? Steve, I don’t want to kick him out. Barnes is more than welcome to stay here. God knows, we have more than enough room. And being alone wouldn’t be the best thing for someone recovering.”

 

“Oh,” Steve deflated, “Then, why are you upset?”

 

“You said it yourself, Steve,” Tony sighed, “You haven’t been around much.”

 

“I’m sorry, darling.” Steve reached out to him, pulling Tony in for a warm embrace, “I was too caught up in helping Bucky that I wasn’t here for you and Ulysses. Forgive me.”

 

“Hmm,” Tony hummed and planting his face on Steve’s chest, relishing in the warmth of Steve’s emanating, “it’s okay. We missed you, but you’re back now.”

 

“Yeah, Buck’s doing fine now. He’s probably gonna still be very nervous and skittish around the rest of the family, but he’s getting there.” Steve reassured him, “is that all? Me, not being here too much? Are you sure Bucky being here is no issue for you?”

 

“Yes, Steve, it’s fine. Might be awhile before he’s comfortable with Ulysses by himself and vice versa but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” Tony said.

 

“That’s it?” Steve peered closer into his eyes. Damn, having a perceptive Alpha who was also a master tactician was starting to be a hassle when it came to hiding secrets.

 

Tony started to nod, but then remembered that old adage of communication being key to a healthy relationship. And much as he loathed to talk about his insecurities, if he couldn’t be open and honest with his mate, who else could he be that way with?

 

“I may have been a little bit, a minuscule amount, a teeny tiny bit jealous of Barnes.” Tony managed to mumble out, his face smushed to Steve’s chest to hide his embarrassment.

 

“What?” Steve asked, his tone incredulous, “Jealous of what? Tony --”

 

“It’s irrational, I know, I know. My brain with all of its intelligence and power isn’t always rational, okay?”

 

“Why on earth would you be jealous of Bucky? Honey, he’s another Alpha male.”

 

“Ugh, I know. Like I said, Steve, _irrational_.” Tony pointed at his head for emphasis, “I wasn’t afraid you were gonna run out with him in that sense, but more in the sense that you’d realize that the past was better than the future, and then I’d have to raise Ulysses by myself.”

 

Steve looked shocked, his mouth was hanging open agape like someone just socked him in the face. Then a smile lit up his face as he pulled Tony back in to his embrace ad just for good measure kissed the living daylights out of Tony.

 

“Tony,” he said reverently after they broke away from the kiss, “Like I said before, Bucky is my past. You and Ulysses are my future. I’m not letting go of you, ever.” Steve pushed their foreheads together, making Tony see the blue of his eyes, so bright and earnest with love and affection. “Never. You’re stuck with me, Tony Stark.”

 

Tony smiled, “Wouldn’t want it any other way, champ.”

 

“Good.” Steve kissed him again, his lips firm and solid against Tony’s own. He slipped his hands around Tony’s waist and pulled him closer to his body. So close that Tony could feel the hard muscles of his torso and moaned at how good it felt to have his mate touching him again. It had been a hard couple of weeks not having Steve by his side when he went to bed. Finally, everything seemed to be going back to normal now. He got to have his mate back, he got to have his touches, kisses and caresses back.

 

Tony looped his arms around Steve’s neck as they continued kissing. The feeling of Steve’s soft, plush lips against his own dry ones was like heaven, like the first taste of water after wandering the desert for years. It was life affirming and all consuming.

 

“I miss you,” Tony murmured as they parted, “it’s been lonely without you, lover.”

 

“I know, I’m sorry, love. I’m back now. Here to answer your beckons and demands.” Steve grinned prompting Tony to do the same. Tony pecked him on the lips sweetly.

 

“Then I demand you to cuddle me until I fall asleep.”

 

“As you wish.” Steve swept him up in a bridal carry and carried him all the way to their bed where they cuddled and did other things until they both fell asleep.

 

* * *

 

Bucky Barnes didn’t know what to expect when he first turned himself in to the Avengers at Stark Tower. Over the year and with his fact-finding mission, he started to remember most of everything that occurred when he was under HYDRA influence. And more importantly he started to remember his life when he was still Sergeant Bucky Barnes of the 107th Battalion. He remembered fighting with Steve, his fall in the Alps and everything that came after that. With the fall of SHIELD, and HYDRA within it, it left him with a void. Now, for the first time as long as he could remember, there were no missions.

 

So the Winter Soldier was free to do as he pleased. And what he wanted was to understand what had happened to him and determine what he needed to do after that. Once he tied up all of the loose ends, he headed to the one place that he thought would be a safe haven for a wayward assassin like him, the Avengers Tower.

 

At first, they were tense and unsure of what to do with him. Nobody had ever been put in a situation where a recently deprogrammed assassin walked into their house to seek asylum. Then Maria Hill and Nick Fury showed up to extract intelligence from him, and the interrogation was somewhat comforting if only because this was what he expected.

 

Steve stayed with him throughout the interrogation. His face pulled into that frown that Bucky recognized as his Disapproving Frown and Bucky had to hold back a laugh every time that frown appeared during the course of the interrogation. For all that the times have changed, it seemed Steve Rogers managed to stay true to himself despite of it.

 

Steve talked to him. A lot. He told him everything that happened ever since he woke up from the ice. How he felt overwhelmed by the changes and unfamiliar things that surround him on a daily basis, that he sometimes wished they never found him in the ice. Steve also told him that slowly things got better for him. He met and fought with Tony Stark (and that was anther doozy, Howard has a son...Bucky always thought Howard would be a forever bachelor, but then again what did he know) and was now bonded to him. They have a son together.

 

That floored Bucky a little bit. Stevie has a son now. When they were younger, he would have never imagined this. Hell, the fact that he managed to get Steve to live past eighteen was a badge of honor in his book. But here he was now, probably the healthiest human being on the planet and with everything to live for.

 

“His name is Ulysses.” Steve showed a picture of smiling baby surrounded by small alphabet blocks. The baby was looking at the camera with big blue eyes that looked exactly like Steve’s. “Ulysses James.”

 

Bucky’s heart stuttered at that. Steve had named his firstborn after him. Damn, that’s enough to bring tears to a hardened assassin’s heart.

 

“You punk,” he croaked out after a moment of silence, “I can’t believe you named your kid after a dirty book. What did Stark say about that?”

 

“Wha-- It’s not raunchy. Bucky!” he laughed at Steve’s indignation, it was still easy to rile him up, “it’s a complex book, okay. Way ahead of its time. It wasn’t my fault that nobody else back then understood what it was about.”

 

“Whatever you say, punk.” he reached for Ulysses’ picture and stared at the endearing visage of Steve’s son, “he’s cute. Look a lot like you when you were skinny.”

 

“That’s what Tony said too. He found a picture of me from basic training, before the serum, and had it framed and placed in his workshop.” Steve shook his head at his mate’s antics.

 

“I’m glad you’re happy, Steve. For the longest time, as far as I can remember, there was always sadness and guilt in you. When Sarah died, when I first died. But you’re happy now, Stevie. I’m glad.”

 

“Yeah, I’m happy, Buck. The happiest I’ve ever been. And I know you could be happy too, Buck. You’ve spent so long punishing yourself for what happened, it’s high time you try to forgive yourself.”

 

Bucky smiled deprecatingly, “Not gonna tell me that ‘none of this is my fault’?”

 

“Nah. You have to learn to accept what you did, the only one who could tell if the self-flagellation is enough. And you’re the only who can absolve yourself and what to do to redeem yourself. What any of us think don’t matter.”

 

“That’s a pretty good. How did you get so smart, Rogers?”

 

“Jerk.” Steve chuckled, bumping their shoulders together, “I have a pretty smart mate.”

 

So here he was, two weeks later, finally gathering up the courage to venture up to the common room for breakfast with the Avengers. Steve was already at the stove, cooking a stack of pancakes. He smiled and nodded in greeting as he spotted Bucky entering the room.

 

“Morning, Buck. There’s coffee on the counter. Don’t drink the one on the left, it’s decaf.”

 

Bucky made a face at the prospect and the presence of decaf coffee. He poured some coffee from the carafe on the right and settled down on the counter to enjoy his coffee. One by one, the Avengers started appearing in the kitchen. First was Dr. Banner. After he made some tea, he started helping Steve with the breakfast, cracking open all two dozen eggs to make scrambled eggs for the whole team. Next came Thor, the God of Thunder. He quickly made a beeline for the pantry, returning with a box of toaster strudel that he popped in the oven despite Bruce’s chastisement that he would ruin his appetite.

 

“Thor, we’re making breakfast right now. You’re going to ruin your appetite.”

 

“Nonsense, Bruce. My appetite, and my whole day for that matter, would be ruined if I don’t get to consume these blueberry toaster strudels first thing in the morning.”

 

Bucky still had a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that he now shared a roof with an Alien that had power to control thunder. He never would have imagined this in his wildest dreams. He wondered what the Commando boys would say if they saw how he and Steve were living now.

 

Natasha and Wilson came up together, sweaty and out of breath (in Wilson’s case) and immaculate with not a hair out of place (also looking very much like something out of his wildest dreams) in Natasha’s case. Apparently they were in the gym together and had sparred.

 

Sam groaned as he poured himself gingerly on one of the stools, “Okay, that’s it. I’m never sparring with Natasha again. I didn’t know my body could twist and bend the way she made it do.”

 

“Thanks for that information, Sam.” Steve chuckled.

 

Barton came in next, he looked like he was still sleeping judging by the closed eyes. But he managed to find the fridge with great accuracy, not once tripping or bumping other furnitures in his way, and took out a box of orange juice and drank it straight from the carton.

 

“Clint,” Steve complained, his face set in that disapproving frown that reminded Bucky of Sarah, “use a glass, please.” he pushed an empty glass to his teammate which Clint took grumbling all the way.

A guest seemed to be joining them this morning. Tony came in to the room, carrying baby Ulysses in his arms, followed by a tall and lean African American man Bucky had never seen before, but he could guess it was probably James Rhodes, Stark’s best friend and the other namesake for Ulysses.

 

“Morning, family. Studmuffin here will be joining us for breakfast this morning.” he announced to the room. Rhodes just rolled his eyes at the nickname Stark threw at him and grabbed a plate to start piling up some pancakes and scrambled eggs in it.

 

Tony found his way to Steve’s side where he stood by the stove cooking up another batch of pancakes for his family. “Morning, handsome.” he tilted his face up for a kiss which Steve obligingly gave to him.

 

“Hi,” Steve returned his smile then turn his attention to Ulysses who was hiding his face in the crook of Tony’s neck, “Hi, baby boy. Good morning.”

 

Hearing his father’s voice, Ulysses turned his face from its hiding place and flashed a gummy grin at his father, reaching out to touch Steve’s nose with his pudgy fingers. Steve let his son patted his nose before moving the hand to his mouth so he could kiss that little palm.

 

“Precious,” he whispered, “coffee’s ready for you. Left carafe.” he informed Tony.

 

At the reminder that he was still on decaf, Tony grimaced, “Ugh decaf. When can I go back to the real stuff? This is getting unbearable.”

 

Steve chuckled, “You’re the one who insists on exclusive breastfeeding for a year, Tony.”

 

“I’m starting to regret that,” he mumbled under his breath and poured a cup of the decaf. He snuck a look at Ulysses and felt that regret fade away. Anything and everything, that’s his motto when it came to his boy.

 

Ulysses started to fuss, most likely getting hungry. Noticing his nephew fussing, Thor stood up and held his arm out for Tony to give the baby to him. Tony smiled appreciatively at the God of Thunder giving him a bit of reprieve while he drank his coffee. Thor set about to take the bottle out from the fridge and warmed it up in the microwave, not forgetting to test it on his wrist to make sure it wouldn’t scald Ulysses’ tongue as he drank it.

 

“Man, I still can’t get over the fact that Thor feeds babies like a pro.” Sam remarked, his phone was up and pointing at the direction where Thor was gently bouncing Ulysses up and down as the baby sucked on the bottle. Tony’s pretty sure he was live streaming the whole thing.

 

“Thor, God of Domesticity.” Tony chuckled. He couldn’t deny that it looked cute to see big and brawny Thor so gentle and careful with his kid. Steve finally finished with his cooking duty and sat down next to him with a plateful of pancakes and scrambled eggs. He placed the plate in the middle, to share with Tony, and they enjoyed their breakfast together.

 

Peaceful mornings like these were what Steve lived for, what he fought for. These peaceful, serene moments with his family, just enjoying their presence and how these moments complete him. He had his mate sitting next to him, eating the food he made for them, his son was happy and would grow up feeling loved and knowing that there would always be people who protected him, had his back and supported him no matter what. Steve’s life was pretty much perfect at this point.

 

“What’s that, little one?” Thor’s voice drew their attention. He had put the empty bottle down on the counter and was holding Ulysses up to his face. He looked excited, “did you say something?”

 

Ulysses stared back at him for awhile, big eyes flickering back and forth on Thor’s face. There was a tense moment where everyone in the room seemed to be holding back their collective breaths until they heard a small voice said, “No.”

 

They all gasped in unison.

 

“Oh my God, he spoke!” Tony leapt out of his chair and rushed over to Thor and Ulysses, Steve hot on his heels, “say that again, baby. What did you say?”

 

Ulysses grinned at his parents, before saying, “No.” then he clapped and squealed when Tony let out a laugh.

 

“His first words!” Tony exclaimed, taking Ulysses back from Thor, “his first word was ‘no’.”

 

“He’s the child of petulance,” Rhodey pointed at Tony, “and stubbornness,” then at Steve, “did anyone expect anything else?”

 

Tony shot him a look, “I’m gonna ignore that, sourpuss. My kid just talked at nine months. He’s leaps and bounds over other babies!”

 

Steve laughed, caressing Ulysses’ soft brown hair, “Good job, honey.”

 

“No!” Ulysses cheerfully told him. “No! No! No!”

 

“It’s like the terrible twos started already…” Sam muttered, but the smile on his face and everyone’s face belied his words.

* * *

 

Time flew by. When Tony blinked again, it was March 17th again, Saint Patrick’s Day and more importantly Ulysses’ first birthday. They had a simple celebration, just for the family, and Ulysses seemed to have fun, if the amount of green frosting that ended up on his face was any indication.

 

(He looked so cute though. Tony might have made JARVIS took pictures in all of the angles possible to take pictures in.)

 

A lot had happened in the interim. Barnes, slowly but surely, integrated into their family unit. After he and Tony talked under the guise of fitting Barnes with a new prosthetic, now he was one of Ulysses’ uncles and designated babysitter, if he wasn’t out for a mission. Just like with Rhodey, he and Steve asked him if he would be willing to be Ulysses’ godfather. He looked so shocked when they asked him, and roughly muttered out an assent. He immediately left the room after they asked him, but Steve assured him it was because he was happy and overwhelmed and needed time to process it.

 

Tony’s just gonna defer to Steve when it came to the intricacies of dealing with his emotionally stunted bestie.

 

With St. Patrick’s Day coming and going, Easter was the next holiday to come around. And honestly, Tony had been expecting this conversation in awhile. It just didn’t mean he was completely psyched to have it.

 

“Tony, we need to talk.” was all Steve said when he came down to the workshop with a pastrami sandwich from Katz’s deli in hand.

 

“That doesn’t sound ominous at all.” he replied, “I’m assuming it’s something you think I would totally freak out over. That’s why you have a pastrami sandwich from my favorite deli in your hand right now.”

 

Steve looked down at the sandwich, shrugged and gave it to him, “I just wanted to spoil you. Nothing wrong with that, is there?”

 

“Mm-hmm.” Tony quirked an eyebrow, accepting the sandwich either way and started to eat it. “What is it, babe? What do you want?”

 

“I want to baptize Ulysses in the Catholic church.”

 

Tony continued chewing for awhile. He stared wordlessly at Steve, knowing his mate was internally wringing his hands and mentally preparing himself for Tony’s complete and utter rejection at the prospect.

 

“Okay.” he simply said.

“Wait, what?” Steve stared at him like he just sprouted a second head.

 

“I said: okay, Steve. Let’s baptize Ulysses.”

 

“Okay, I admit I was expecting a bit of a fight and a continuation of our “discussion” about how organized religion was a control system designed to suppress humanities’ ability to be free-thinkers.”

 

“We can have that ‘discussion’” Tony used air quotes on the discussion, because it was more of an argument than anything else when they talked about it before, “some other time. Also, do you really want me to pick a fight about this?”

 

“Well no,” Steve sat down on his work desk, facing him, “I was expecting more resistance from you. This easy agreement is throwing me off, is all.” he said, “Tony, I don’t want you to just agree to go along with it. Ulysses’ upbringing will be our responsibility. Not just mine, but also yours. We get to decide how we want to raise him. I want him to know and have some knowledge of what the Church teaches and to also know science and how it explains how the world works. I don’t think they’re contradictory to each other, rather they complement them. If he could have a well-rounded view and knowledge the world like that, it would greatly benefit him.”

 

“I know, Steve. Believe me, I know. I’ve been thinking about this for awhile now. About how we’re going to raise Ulysses. I’m not opposed to you wanting to raise him in the Church, so long as you give him the freedom to choose later on in his life when he finally formed his own set of beliefs. If I want him to be able to make his own decisions, forbidding him from being baptized would be a bit hypocritical, I think.” Tony shrugged, “plus, I think my mother would have liked to see her grandbaby baptized in the Church.”

 

Steve smiled at the mention of Tony’s mother, “So would mine.” he reached for Tony’s hand and entwined their fingers together, “so we agree? Baptize Ulysses now, and let him decide later on if he wants to be confirmed?”

 

“That sounds like a good compromise to me.”

 

“Thank you, Tony.” Steve kissed him gently. “Now, I have to tell Buck that he has to be ready for a baptism. Should be fun explaining to him that everything is now in English.”

 

Tony laughed at that, “Oh, you and your old people eccentricities.”

* * *

 

“What do you mean ‘the mass is in English now’ ?” Bucky exclaimed as he stood straight. Natasha was helping him put on a tie. She already warned him once that if he moved, she would strangle him with the tie. And while Bucky would be more than willing to engage in breath play with the spy, he wasn’t willing to test her patience right now. “How am I supposed to know when to respond when the priest said something?”

 

“You would understand what he’s saying regardless.” Steve rolled his eyes at his best friend.

 

“It’s supposed to be the only thing that never ever changes, Stevie. What the hell.”

 

“Well, they changed for the better, in my opinion. Though there were still some things that need to be addressed.”

 

“If you say so.” Natasha finished tying his tie, and Bucky flashed her a charming smile in gratitude that she brushed off with a flick of her fingers. “She wants me.” he said to Steve, as soon as Natasha was out of earshot.

 

“Don’t let her hear you say that.” Steve said in response.

 

The Avengers were all gathered in a small Catholic church in Westchester County. The priest, Father Vincent, was apparently a good friend of Steve’s that he made acquaintance with during his Americana trip. They stayed in touch and when Steve contacted him about baptizing his son, the father was more than happy to accommodate.

 

“Captain Rogers, welcome.” he greeted them as they filed into the church. Easter service just concluded, judging by the amount of cars and people milling around outside. They were surprised at the Avengers’ presence in their church, rightly so. It wasn’t everyday that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes came to their neck of the woods.

 

“Father, I’ve told you before to call me Steve.”

 

“If you want me to call you ‘Steve’, then you must call me Vincent.” the priest answered Steve jokingly.

 

“You know I can’t do that.” Steve said, “Father, this is Tony, my mate, and Ulysses, our son.” Steve gestured towards Tony, standing beside him carrying Ulysses who was wide awake and seemed captivated by the stained glass decorating the church’s interior.

 

“Yes, of course, Mr. Stark. Nice to meet you.” he shook Tony’s hand, “and hello, Ulysses.” he greeted the baby, who promptly turned shy and hid his face in Tony’s neck.

 

Tony chuckled at his son’s antics, “He’s a bit shy around strangers. Good to meet you, Father.”

 

“I really appreciate this, Father. I know this is a bit too late for a baptism, but there were extenuating circumstances.” Steve said.

 

“Oh nonsense, Captain.” The Father waved him off, “better late than never, right?”

 

A few moments later, they were all stood before the altar. Bucky and Rhodey, as Ulysses’ godparents stood before the priest, Rhodey holding Ulysses in his arms. The rest of them stood by the pews, witness to the ritual unfolding before them.

 

“Ulysses James, do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of Heaven and Earth?”

 

“I do.” Bucky answered for him.

 

“Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord?”

 

“I do.”

 

“Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church?”

 

“I do.”

 

“Ulysses James Stark Rogers, do you renounce Satan?”

 

“No!” Ulysses cheerfully answered before Bucky could say anything, prompting a loud burst of shocked laughter from Tony and snickers and chuckles from everyone else. Steve rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming in.  

 

“I do renounce him.” Bucky said, holding back a chuckle as he placate Ulysses who was reaching for his prosthetic limb.

 

Father Vincent looked ready to laugh too, “And all his works?” he continued on.

 

“I do renounce them.”

 

“And all his pomps?”

 

“I do renounce them.”

 

“Ulysses Rogers, will you be baptized?”

 

“I will.” Father Vincent then pour holy water on Ulysses’ head, prompting the boy whined and squirmed away from the water on his head, cuddling closer to Rhodey, who made a soothing noise to placate him.

 

“In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Father Vincent continued, making the sign of the cross over Ulysses’ head. “Ulysses Rogers, go in peace. And may the Lord be with you. Amen.”

 

That afternoon, they were all gathered in the living room again. Pepper was with them that night, flitting from one Avengers to the next, making sure they were still dressed appropriately from the earlier Baptism and were ready for their next event: a family photo shoot.

 

“Pep, relax. We’re all still dressed from the Baptism. I’m sure we can bear wearing monkey suits  for another two minutes or however many long this photo shoot is gonna take.” Tony tried to placate her, “everyone looks amazing, and we’re all good looking enough not to look too shabby even with the wrong outfits.”

 

“Really, Tony? Clint already took of his tie and is now lounging on the couch, eating nachos.”

 

“For God’s sakes, Barton.”

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Clint hollered from the couch, “Imma keep this clean.”

 

“Barton, get over here. I wanna get out of this monkey suit yesterday.” Bucky told him, “the sooner we finished this the better for everyone.”

 

“Uh, okay. Are you all ready, sirs and madams?” the nervous photographer asked them.

 

“Yes.” Steve answered on their behalf, then with his Captain voice, the one that never failed to make Tony wet, he said “Clint, get over here. It’s almost time for Ulysses’ nap and if you mess up his routine, you will be doing daily drills for the next 6 weeks.”

 

Tony shot Steve a look that said ‘I know what we’ll be doing once Ulysses was down for his nap’. Steve flushed a fetching shade of red much to his amusement.

 

“Ugh, please stop eyefucking in front of the family. My eyes are too pure for that.” Clint whined as he walked to where they were all assembled in front of the fireplace.

 

“Stop swearing in front of the baby,” Natasha chastised him. She was sitting in the center on the chaise they dragged up here, resplendent in a purple floor length gown.

 

“Alright, alright,” Clint muttered and taking his place beside Sam, standing behind Natasha.

 

“Can we please hurry this up? Downton Abbey starts in, like, 5 minutes?” Happy implored them.

 

“Alright, peeps and company, let’s get this show on the road,” Tony said. He was seated on a chair situated to Pepper’s left. She shared the chaise lounger with Natasha, dressed in an ivory dress. Steve was standing behind Tony, looking handsome in a three piece Tom Ford suit that Tony bought him for the occasion, carrying Ulysses in his arms. Standing next to Steve was Thor, smiling jovially with one of his big hands on Bruce’s shoulder.

 

Bucky, Rhodey, Sam, Clint and Happy completed the picture, with Clint and Sam standing side by side behind Natasha and Bucky and Rhodey, who was wearing his dress blues, in the middle of the picture. Happy stood behind Pepper, a hand on her shoulder.

 

“Okay, Avengers.” the photographer called out, “say ‘World Peace!’”

 

Everyone dutifully repeated “World Peace!” while Tony muttered “I’m not saying that,” under his breath.

 

A couple of flashes emanated from the camera and the whole affair was over.

 

Two months later, an A0 size picture of the family was hung over the penthouse’s fireplace where it would remain for years to come.

 

Or until they decided to take another picture to reflect the new addition to their family two years later.  


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**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :)
> 
> Let me know what you think about this story in the comments.


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